Murray Warmath, 97, who coached the Gophers to their only Rose Bowl appearances in 1961 and ’62, nearly 2 1/2 weeks ago was given just a few days to live.

But the beloved Warmath, always determined, has defied odds and is resting comfortably and in good care at Friendship Village in Bloomington. His 98th birthday is Dec. 26.

The Twins are being extremely cautious about the concussion that has sidelined slugger Justin Morneau since July 7.

“We’re not going to rush that,” club President Dave St. Peter said. “This is a new injury for us, and a little bit for Justin, and we’re trying to be real smart about it. His life is the most important thing.”

What’s amazing is that last September the Twins won 17 of their final 21 games with Morneau sidelined, and since he has been out this season, they’ve won 21 of 32.

No news coming forth since Brett Favre‘s apparent ankle examination by surgeon James Andrews last week would seem to indicate the quarterback remains intent on returning to the Vikings.

Regardless, the Vikings will need to move high in next spring’s NFL draft to take a QB.

Royce White, the former Mr. Basketball Minnesota from Hopkins who spent his freshman year last season ineligible to play for the Gophers because of legal problems, said he’s excited that Trevor Mbakwe can play for the Gophers if he participates in an intervention program stemming from a felony assault charge last year.

But, White also said, it’s too late for him to change his mind about playing for Iowa State and new coach Fred Hoiberg and that he’s firm in his commitment to the Cyclones.

After practicing with Mbakwe most of last season, White said of the 6-foot-8, 240-pound forward, “He’s incredible.

“(Minnesota athletics director) Joel Maturi‘s decision to let Trevor play was the right decision and an overdue decision. It also was a tough decision, and when you’re in a position of power like that, it’s not easy, and there’s going to be somebody upset. But his playing is a good thing.”

White plans to move his belongings to Iowa State on Wednesday. He said his NCAA waiver request for eligibility this season will be made this week.

“Everything’s great; I’m real excited,” he said.

Meanwhile, there is little doubt that Mbakwe will end up with the Gophers.

The Twins are 20-10 against the Chicago White Sox the past two seasons. Chicago, in second place behind Minnesota in the AL Central, returns to Target Field for three games beginning Tuesday.

Beginning Sept. 1, the Twins play 18 home games and 12 on the road, while the White Sox play 16 home games and 14 away.

Catcher Wilson Ramos, who was batting .241 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in in 71 games at Class AAA Rochester before the Twins traded him for Washington closer Matt Capps, is hitting .295 with two home runs and six RBIs in 11 games for Syracuse in the same International League.

Hockey’s Stanley Cup, courtesy of former Chicago Blackhawk Dustin Byfuglien, will be in Byfuglien’s hometown of Roseau, Minn., today. Byfuglien was traded to Atlanta after his Chicago team won the trophy last season.

Don Wakamatsu, fired as manager of the Seattle Mariners the other day, is a big fan of former Gophers infielder Jack Hannahan, who recently was traded by the Mariners to the Boston Red Sox. Hannahan, 30, is hitting .276 with three homers and seven RBIs in 17 games at Class AAA Pawtucket.

“In spring training, we were looking at Jack’s ability to maybe fill in at shortstop, but with his hamstring injury, it slowed everything,” Wakamatsu said. “He’s the epitome of a great teammate and competitor, and he’s absolutely one of my favorite all-time players. I like his future.”

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, at a Dunkers gathering at the Minneapolis Club the other day, said his league will not be realigned for basketball with the addition of Nebraska next year as it will be with divisions for football.

Tim Brewster, as usual during early practices, has moved a mattress into his Bierman Building office to sleep.

The Gophers football coach said he watches video on a big-screen TV until about 2:30 a.m., hits the mattress and rises at 5:30 a.m.

Kyle Gibson, the Twins’ top draft pick last year, lasted 5 2/3 innings in his Class AAA debut for Rochester against Lehigh Valley. He allowed five hits, one run, walked one and struck out one. He did not get a decision.

Meanwhile at Rochester, former Twins reliever Pat Neshek‘s fastball is showing 88-mph to 89-mph speed on the stadium’s radar display. Neshek is 4-0 with a 3.72 earned-run average in 23 appearances.

Happy birthday: Former Twins manager Tom Kelly turns 60 today.

Luke Ridnour says he chose the Timberwolves as a free agent after he and his wife prayed on the matter. “I’m a Christian,” he said.

A $16 million guaranteed deal didn’t hurt, either.

The Twins will have their first team photo at Target Field this homestand, with the ballpark’s “Minnie and Paul” logo as the backdrop.

Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, a former Timberwolf, on what it will take for 6-foot-11, 250-pound Bloomington Jefferson grad Cole Aldrich of Kansas to get minutes during his rookie season in the NBA, in the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World: “Being a bully is not bad.”

Aldrich is guaranteed $1.8 million this season.

Notre Dame’s new hockey arena, which will be named after former coach Charles “Lefty” Smith of South St. Paul, will open for the 2011-12 season. Meanwhile, Smith likes the Irish’s new football coach, Brian Kelly.

“He’s really personable and seems really knowledgeable,” Smith said.

Red McCombs, 82, who sold the Vikings to Zygi Wilf for $600 million, is behind an effort to land a Formula One racetrack for Austin, Texas.

Michigan State outfielder Jeff Holm, son of former Gopher John Holm, has been named the Prospect wood bat collegiate league’s most valuable player after hitting 11 home runs and 18 doubles with 60 RBIs and 38 stolen bases for Chillicothe (Ohio) this summer. Holm also was named the league’s pro prospect of the year.

Former Gopher Tom Lehman hit a 4-iron into the 217-yard par-3 17th hole for his eighth career hole in one Saturday at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Edina’s Paul Commers, 42, playing in a father-son golf tournament with son Andrew at Interlachen Country Club this summer, knocked a 167-yard 6-iron into the No. 3 hole for his first career hole in one. Then, playing in another father-son tournament with his dad, Clem, and son Andrew at Somerset Country Club the other day, he aced the 222-yard No. 12 hole with a 3-wood.

“Complete luck,” Commers said. “The real neat thing, though, was the opportunity to do it with your son and dad.”

Ex-Gophers golfer Mike Bann scored his third career ace on the 147-yard No. 12 hole with a wedge at Cumberland (Wis.) Golf Club en route to a 3-under-par 69 the other day.

The top high school girls basketball player in the state since Tayler Hill left Minneapolis South for Ohio State is Lakeville North’s 5-7 guard Rachel Banham, who was named surprise player in the nation at the recent Nike National AAU tournament in North Augusta, S.C. Banham has committed to the Gophers.

Twins and wives participating on the table waiter event this evening at the Capital Grille in Minneapolis to benefit the Twin Cities’ Boys and Girls Clubs are Michael and Claudia Cuddyer, Jim and Andrea Thome, Delmon Young, Joe and Lisa Nathan, Scott and LeAnn Baker, Jesse and Becky Crain, Brian and Lisa Duensing, Matt and Dejie Guerrier, Jason and Blake Kubel, Nick and Natalie Punto, Jon and Erica Rauch, Orlando Hudson, and Ron and Alison Mahay.

Former Gophers athletics director Rick Bay, who lost wife Denise in a car accident in 2007, is moving from Palm Desert, Calif., to Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nate Iliff of Mounds View has accepted a scholarship to pitch for coach Boomer Walker at Southern Idaho.

The University of St. Thomas is ranked No. 5 nationally in the initial Division III football poll. St. John’s is No. 9. The schools will meet Oct. 2 in Collegeville, Minn., in front of a crowd expected to exceed 15,000.

Aquatic scientist Steve McComas, 56, of Highland Park won his fifth Ringside World Amateur Boxing championship in the 178-pound masters division in Kansas City the other day. McComas trains at the Uppercut Gym in Minneapolis and at the Rice Street Gym in St. Paul.

“Boxing is good exercise,” McComas said. “I’ve tried golfing, but I keep getting hurt when I golf.”

Twins’ Class A Fort Myers Miracle manager Jake Mauer, 31, and his wife are expecting their second child in January.

Former Gophers and current ConcordiaSt. Paul pitching coach Marcus McKenzie has signed with the St. Paul Saints.

St. Paul golfer Rod Hamblin Jr. plays on the Dakota Tour the next month.

Edina West High School grad Brian Burke, who is general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Leafs coach Ron Wilson, a former North Star, will play in their alma mater Providence’s golf fundraiser Monday.

Gordy Jones’ children’s book, “Baseball Guy,” is headed into its second printing, with a celebration 4-7 p.m. Monday at Mancini’s Char House. The Twins’ Jason Kubel will be among the guests.

Eagan’s Scott Erdman, 52, next weekend will attempt to set a Guinness world record, through a fundraiser for the American Diabetes Association, by playing pool for more than 72 straight hours at Shooters Billiards in Burnsville.

Outfielder Max Kepler, who received an $800,000 signing bonus as a 16-year-old from the Twins last year out of Berlin, Germany, is hitting .254 in 31 games for the Fort Myers, Fla., rookie league club.

Third baseman Miguel Sano, 17, whom the Twins gave $3.1 million to sign last year out of the Dominican Republic, is hitting .286 with three home runs in 28 games at Fort Myers.

Minnesota Wild broadcast analyst Tom Reid is hosting a wine- and cigar-tasting benefit for Wishes and More on Aug. 23 at his Hockey City Pub.

Margaret (Nowlin) McCaffery, 39, wife of new Iowa men’s basketball coach Fran McCaffery, was a basketball star at Cretin-Derham Hall and Notre Dame, from which she has a law degree.

Stillwater grad Rob McGarry, a former Gophers long-snapper, is a grad assistant in compliance at the University of Utah while attending law school.

That was Joe Borja, son of legendary former NBA referee Sid Borja, evaluating referees at a recent Minnesota Lynx game.

Two-time University of St. Thomas pitcher Matt Schuld has been promoted from the Twins’ rookie league club at Fort Myers to the Fort Myers Miracle after going 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA.

Local sportsman Jim Kowalski will receive the United Hospital Foundation’s Humanitarian Award Sept. 25 at St. Paul’s RiverCentre.

Mark Hallberg of Barron, Wis., is hitting .256 in 98 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Class AAA Reno Aces.

Minneapolis-raised Todd Peterson, 47, who lives in Kansas City, has written a newly published “Early Black Baseball in Minnesota: The St. Paul Gophers, Minneapolis Keystones and Other Barnstorming Teams of the Deadball Era.”

DON’T PRINT THAT

The Twins are paying inactive Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan a total of $26.25 million this season; that’s more than a quarter of the team’s total payroll.

Look for the Twins to offer manager Ron Gardenhire, who has another year on his contract, an extension after the season.

The Gophers football team is picked to finish last in the Big Ten, with a 1-7 record, and 2-10 overall, in this week’s Sports Illustrated. Ohio State (8-0), Iowa (7-1), and Wisconsin (6-2) and Penn State (6-2) lead the magazine’s picks.

The Twins on Monday will lose rights to their 14th-round draft pick, 6-2, 225-pound pitcher DeAndre Smelter, who instead of signing plans to enroll at Georgia Tech. The right-handed Smelter, 18, from Macon, Ga., has a 95-mph fastball. Monday is the deadline for picks from last June’s amateur draft to sign.

That was Bill Butters, the former Gophers hockey defenseman star and assistant coach, dining with Ryan McDonagh, the former Cretin-Derham Hall defenseman who recently signed with the New York Rangers, in Madison, Wis., this past week.

Butters is a new assistant to Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves, a former North Star. McDonagh, a former NHL first-round draft pick, passed up his senior season with the Badgers to turn professional.

Butters says the 6-1, 212-pound McDonagh could make the Rangers out of training camp.

“I don’t think they pulled him out of school to bury him in the minors,” he said.

Butters is from White Bear Lake.

“When I played for the Gophers, everyone said I bled maroon and gold,” he said. “But when I took my physical for this job at Wisconsin, I bled (Badger) red.”

One Gophers men’s hockey fan who was No. 982 on a waiting list for season tickets early this summer moved up enough to buy four tickets last week.

OVERHEARD

Gophers football coach Tim Brewster on being identified as Glen Mason on a TV scrawl at the recent Big Ten media day: “When we win enough games, they’ll get my name right.”

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